5 Vegetarian Lasagne Dishes That Will Melt In Your Mouth

• 450g lasagne noodles*
• 800-900g marinara sauce
• 340g baby spinach*
• 3 cups chopped kale
• 570g sliced baby Bella mushrooms
• 1/3 cup cooking sherry
• 425g ricotta
• 1 cup chopped basil
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper, optional
• 2 cups shredded Raclette or Fontina cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Gruyère or Pecorino Romano cheese

prep the layers:

1. Preheat your oven to 160ºC. Cook the noodles according to package directions, drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place the kale in a steamer basket and lower into the water. Cook until wilted but still a bit crunchy, about 1 minute. Remove and drain the kale in a colander.
3. Place the spinach in the steamer basket and lower into the water. Cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Remove and drain.
4. Once the greens are cool, squeeze out all the water you can.
5. Place the mushrooms in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring every now and then until they release their juices and the juices have nearly evaporated. Add the cooking sherry, toss, and let cook until the sherry is almost evaporated, and then remove from the heat.
6. Mix the ricotta, basil, thyme, and milk together in a medium bowl. Add the crushed red pepper if you want a bit of spice.

make the lasagne:

1. Oil a 9×13″ baking dish. Line the bottom with a single layer of lasagna noodles going in the short direction (you’ll have to cut them). Use the back of a spoon to spread about 1/3 of the ricotta mixture across them. Top with about 1/4 of the marinara, using the spoon to spread it out evenly.
2. Top the marinara with 1/3 of the kale, spinach, and mushrooms, spreading them out evenly.
3. Add another layer of the noodles going the opposite direction (lengthwise) and repeat the layering, then repeat everything again. You should have 3 layers of noodles topped with filling.
4. Finish with a final layer of noodles topped with marinara sauce and covered with the two kinds of cheese.
5. Cover tightly with foil (if necessary, use toothpicks to make sure the foil doesn’t touch the top) and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and turn on the broiler and cook for 10 minutes, until the top is golden brown in spots and bubbly.
6. Cut with a sharp knife and serve immediately.

Sauce:

• 680g cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 225g shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped
• Salt
• 1 generous cup of chopped onions
• 1/4 cup olive oil plus more for keeping the noodles from sticking to each other
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped (about 4 teaspoons)
• 450g can tomato paste
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 790g can crushed tomatoes (I recommend Muir Glen brand with added basil)
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tbsp dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp sugar

Lasagne:

• 2 10-ounce boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed in clean towel of excess moisture
• 1 lb lasagna noodles (16 to 20 noodles)
• 1 450g container of ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 113g Pecorino cheese (or Parmesan), grated (about 1 cup)
• 450g shredded mozzarella cheese (about 4 cups)

1 Sauté the mushrooms: Place mushrooms in a large (6 to 8 quart), sauté pan on high or medium high heat. Stir them with a wooden spoon or shake the pan from time to time. You may hear them squeak. Once the mushrooms start to release water into the pan, stir in the chopped onions. Cook until the mushrooms are no longer releasing moisture and the mushroom water has boiled away, about 5 minutes more.

2 Build the sauce with the mushrooms, tomatoes, and rest of the sauce ingredients: Add the olive oil to the mushrooms and stir to coat. Sauté the mushrooms and onions for about a minute.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute.  Stir in the tomato paste, cook for a minute longer. Reserve 1 cup of the tomato sauce (it will go in the bottom of the casserole dish), and put the remaining cup of tomato sauce into the pot with the mushrooms.  Add the large can of crushed tomatoes.  Add one cup of water. Stir in the thyme, sugar, and red pepper flakes. If you are using dried basil instead of fresh, add it now. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat and simmer on a low simmer, for 20 minutes.

3 Boil and drain the lasagne noodles: Once sauce is simmering, salt the boiling pasta water, and add the dry lasagna noodles to the boiling water.  (The water should be at a vigorous, rolling boil.) Stir gently, making sure that the noodles are not sticking to each other. Set the timer for 8 minutes, or however long is indicated on the package of the noodles. Cook uncovered on a high boil. When the noodles are ready (al dente, cooked through but still firm to the bite), drain the noodles in a colander, and rinse them to cool them with cold water.  As you rinse them, gently separate them with your fingers so they don’t stick to each other. Prepare a couple large cookie sheets or baking sheets by spreading a tablespoon of olive oil over the baking sheets. Place the lasagna noodles on the sheets, gently coating them with a bit of that olive oil, and spreading them out. This will help keep them from sticking to each other while you finish the sauce and prepare the layered casserole.

4 Assemble the lasagne: Turn off the heat on the stove-top for the sauce. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Spread the one cup of reserved tomato sauce over the bottom of a large (preferably 10×15-inch) casserole dish. (If your casserole dish is smaller, you may need to add another layer as you go through this step. Place a layer of lasagna noodles down over the tomato sauce, slightly overlapping. (For our 10×15-inch dish, we ultimately fit 3 layers of noodles, each layer with 6 noodles.  Then we had 2 extra noodles on which to nosh.) Sprinkle half of the ricotta cheese over the noodles. Sprinkle half of the defrosted, drained, and excess moisture squeezed out spinach over the ricotta. Sprinkle half of the Mozzarella cheese over the spinach, and just a quarter of the pecorino cheese.  Then spoon 1/3 of your mushroom sauce over the Mozzarella. Sprinkle half of the fresh basil over the sauce if using.

5 Repeat layers: Repeat the layering process. Place the second layer of noodles over the sauce. Spread the remaining ricotta, spinach, and Mozzarella over the noodles. Sprinkle another quarter of the pecorino along with the Mozzarella. Top with another third of the mushroom sauce and the remaining fresh basil.

Layer your final layer of lasagna noodles over the sauce. Spread the remaining sauce over the lasagna noodles, and sprinkle with the remaining pecorino or parmesan cheese.

6 Cover with foil and bake: Pull out a sheet of aluminum foil large enough to cover the casserole dish. Spread a little olive oil over the inside of the piece of foil (the side that will have contact with the lasagna). Place the foil over the casserole dish and crimp the edges.

Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake uncovered for an additional 25 minutes.

Take the lasagna out of the oven when done and let it rest 10 minutes before cutting to serve. Once made, the lasagna will last a week in the fridge.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 zucchini chopped
• 8 220g button mushrooms finely chopped
• 1 red pepper seeded + chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced or grated
• 1 jar roasted garlic or tomato basil pasta sauce
• 1 cup milk
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes oil drained
• 1/2 cup rinsed green lentils
• 170g no-boil lasagne noodles
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 1 cup fresh basil
• 226g mozzarella sliced
• 113 provolone shredded
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan plus more for topping
• pesto, for serving (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
2. Heat a large, high-side skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil. Once hot, add the zucchini, mushroom and red pepper. Season with salt + pepper. Cook 3 minutes or until just lightly caramelized. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Stir in the tomato pasta sauce, milk and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes, lentils + 1/4 cup water. Break each lasagna noodle into 2-3 pieces and stir them into the sauce, making sure most of them are submerged. Cook until the noodles are al dente and the lentils are soft about 15 minutes. If the sauce seems like it is getting too thick, add water to thin.
3. Stir in the spinach + basil until they have wilted down into the sauce. Remove from the heat and add the mozzarella, provolone, and Parmesan.
4. Place the skillet on a large baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is bubbly. Remove and let sit 5 minutes. Serve with basil pesto and fresh parmesan. Enjoy!